Customer Reviews

BRILLIANT!!!!

by
Music Phanactical

I have a mega review for these guys, they came a long way and they quickly became one of my favorite bands. For those of you who've never heard of them, a brief explanation is whitechapel with guitar solos, but they're in reality so much more. There are only 2 bands in this world that can perfectly master the Progressive jazz fusion deathcore genre, and those are Painted in exile and (no duh) The contortionist.

Some of you may be dissapointed that this is not like their debut "apparition" because of the change in vocalist and style (and many of the music was borrowed and with new vocals.) Personally I think both were very good in different ways, but I like this specifically. The old album was certainly much heavier and more emotional, but it was always just so angry and depressing and "I hate the world" throughout the whole thing. This album is so much more melodic and uplifting in my opinion and it also has amazing clean vocals, and they're different on each song. I believe it's also a space related theme. Now time for a track by track:

Primal Directive 5/5 Perfect opener. Very heavy, but has the world's most hypnotic clean vocals ever devisedFlourish (eyes:closed remake) <><>/5 my favorite of the album. Very heavy beginning and end but I could listen to that middle guitar solo till the day I die. Probably beats BTBAM's selkies solo.Expire (infection remake) 4/5 The opening is insane, robot voice and brutality hits. It's a heavy one.Contact 5/5 The chorus is so poppy and lovely (reminds me of As I lay dying) and of course heavy.Advent (realms remake) 4/5 Short, but HEAVY and Packed with solos.Vessel 4/5 Pretty much the same applies here as it did for AdventOscillator (remake of...Oscillator) 5/5 They re-did this perfectly, its really heavy for the opening but drops to total ambience and rises for a solo finish.Axiom 3/5 Personally it seemed like they ripped of BTBAM's Viridian and Laser speed at the same time, but it's a gorgious little interlude.

When I saw the Exoplanet suite, I thought "Muse's Exogenesis suite, BUT METAL!!!" As it turns out it has some disappointments but nevertheless amazing shining points:Egress 7/5 My favorite of the suite, opens with a new wave feel and a LOT of clean vocals, but quickly gets heavy and has a soothing solo finish.Void 3/5 Nothing truly unique on this one, just really heavy.Light 4/5 It wasn't as epic as I expected, kind of like oscillator in reverse. It has 2 1/2 minute ambience, followed by a brief epic vocal part, and then getting really heavy.

I hope you've been downloading the album while I've been giving this review,, because this album is a fresh and unique style of deathcore (yes, that's right deathcore, not the mainstream cheezy type, the underground epic type). If you're a little unsure, just buy flourish and Exoplanet 1 egress so you can get a taste of them. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Great work

by
ZEROx04

Amazing band from my hometown. Lots of variety in this album. Buy it, it's worth it!

This Album is One of The Best Progressive Albums of the year.

by
Metalhead 1991

I really love this album a whole lot and it clears destroys it's predecessor. If you loves progressive death metal than this is your album. (For Fans of: Between The Buried and Me, Periphery, Animals As Leaders, Whitechapel, and The Faceless.)

Biography

Formed: 2007 in Indianapolis, IN

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '00s, '10s

Based out of Indianapolis, Indiana, progressive metal quintet the Contortionist draw from influences as diverse as Meshuggah, Dream Theater, Isis, Rush, and Pat Metheny. Formed in 2007 around the talents of vocalist Jonathan Carpenter, guitarists Robby Baca and Cameron Maynard, bass player Christopher Tilley, and drummer Joey Baca, the band released a pair of EPs (Shapeshifter and Apparition) in 2008 and 2009, respectively, before unleashing their...